


Alternatives

by littlefallenseraph



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age - Freeform, F/M, Human Cole (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 12:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17767178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlefallenseraph/pseuds/littlefallenseraph
Summary: F!Lavellan, Solas, and Varric accompany Cole to get revenge for his death. In this instance, the Inquisitor does NOT choose which option Cole should pick. After breaking down, Cole is awakened to budding feelings for the Inquisitor.





	Alternatives

“What should I do?” Cole asked. Saoirse was unable to stop herself from reaching out to his hand and taking it in hers. She was surprised when he didn’t draw away after a moment as he usually would. She interlaced her fingers with his and held it tighter. “That’s a question only you can answer, Cole” “Why can’t you just tell me? What’s the right answer?”  
  
“Listen to me.” Saoirse turned and faced the tall slender creature standing beside her. “This is a choice that is yours and yours alone. I can’t tell you the right answer because I don’t know what it is. You have to decide. What do you feel?"  
  
Solas and Varric stood silently beside Cole, suspense looming on their faces. Cole looked at them for answers but their expressions were static, not giving him any indications of what they were thinking.

"I feel…” Cole looked between the three of them with a panicked expression. He jerked into motion and snatched Bianca out of Varric’s hands. “He left Cole there…us…me to die in the tower. He needs to pay,” he said, losing himself from her hand and running after the man.  
  
Saoirse started after him but Varric stopped her, “Let me, please.”

When the pair returned they were followed by the Templar, shaking with fear and eyes bright with the apparent mercy that had just been given him. Varric had strapped Bianca to his back and Cole stomped past Solas and Saoirse. “Cole wait,” she called.  
  
He didn’t slow until they were far enough away from their companions that he would not be heard. He spun around, anger and agony in his eyes and he grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. “I couldn’t do it!” he screamed. “There was no bolt, no justice, no revenge. I couldn’t kill him. Didn’t.” He collapsed on her, burrowing his face into her stomach, and cried openly as he was flooded with a true feeling of humanity. “Why do I hurt? Why do I feel so much pain? Why is it so real? When does it stop?”  
  
She ran her fingers through his hair as he wept. Eventually, she made her way to the forest floor and his head to her lap. The tears had slowed until just occasional sniffles interrupted the smooth melody she hummed.  
  
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said as he sat up, wiping the last remnants of the saltwater from his cheeks. Lines stretched down his face, tracing the path of his sadness; his eyes were red and swollen. They glistened, though, and she couldn’t help but stare at them. The moisture revealed more of their color than she had ever seen hiding behind that hat, a dark blue-green with white flecks, the color of spruce trees in the spring. They didn’t look as muddled as they had before, not as cloudy.

“Saoirse?” Cole’s voice rang through her trance and brought her back to the forest. It shocked her, he had never used her first name before.

“What question?” she asked. “When does it…stop…” he hung his head and covered his face.

She took his face in her hands, slowly so he could stop her if he wanted to. His hands dropped to his lap and he made no move to escape. She pulled his gaze up to hers so she could look into those eyes again. Sadness was threatening to spill over their borders so she ran her thumbs under them to collect the tears. “It gets easier. It may not stop but it’ll get easier to handle, and you’ll get better at feeling those feelings.”

Panic clouded his expression. “Did I choose wrong?” he sniffled.  
  
“I don’t think there was a wrong choice, Cole. I think you chose what was in your heart and that’s the important part.”  
He brought his hand up and placed it over hers, squeezing it tighter than she had learned to expect from him. “Thank you,” he said simply, closing his eyes. He leaned forward and placed his head on her shoulder. His breathing was ragged, she suspected he might be starting to cry again.  
  
“It helps if you take deep breaths,” she said, but his breathing didn’t change. “Here…breathe with me.” She concentrated on expanding her entire chest and taking as deep a breath as she could fit. He breathed with her, taking it slow. She didn’t know how long they sat there, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as they breathed together.

Slowly, he raised his head once more. The puffiness had gone away but his eyes were still brilliant, shining, and alert. “Thank you,” he said, finally standing up and offering her his hand to help. He pulled too hard and she was jolted upwards and into his chest. He was steady as oak as he caught her, unmoving. He was stronger than she had expected; he had a small frame for a man (she assumed this was because he appeared so young), but strong. She giggled to herself, embarrassed, but when she looked up he was smiling. He gazed down at her and muttered “She smells sweet, like sitting by the sea. Soft.”

She was taken aback. He was looking at her like she hung the stars. A way he had never looked before. She wasn’t sure what to make of it but his face was inching closer to hers.  
  
His mind felt clearer as he studied her lips. It wasn’t as clouded by the fade as before. The fade was still there but it was like a door at the back of his mind that he could open if he wanted, instead of a fog that hung over it whether he wanted it or not. What was he thinking about just now? Her softness, he remembered. Soft but strong. He wanted to move closer to her. Closer than his arms already wrapped around her as he caught her. Closer than they were. His lips inched to hers. Is that right? He thought, am I doing this right? He’d seen couples do it at Skyhold or in their dreams. Kissing. Such a strange act and yet it was all he could think about at this moment. A kiss.

She didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, this was all she wanted. She wanted the gap to be closed, she wanted to feel his lips on hers, she wanted to melt into him as he held her. Once again, she remembered how odd this was. The relationship between herself and Cole had never been a romantic one, as much as she had wished. He was always elusive and cryptic; he was uncomfortable with most physical contact, and he almost never looked her in the eyes before today. She had never dreamed that she would be standing here in his arms as he came closer and closer. But here he was. His eyes only left hers to glance down at her lips. She yearned to know what was swimming around in his head.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered, more of a breathless gasp than speech.

“I was…I…” he sputtered a bit, looking over to a tree nearby instead of at her. “That is…may I…I don’t know what to do.” He looked back at her, giving a little glimpse of a smile. “May I…”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence because she answered him without words, with her lips on his, pulling desperately at his leathers. His arms tightened around her waist, so tight that she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe anyway as their lips came in and out of contact. When they finally parted they were both gasping for air. By most standards, the kiss wasn’t even that impressive, but nevertheless, they could hardly stand. When they had caught their breaths, Cole managed to say “I liked that. I see why others do it so much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! I wrote this a while ago and am now just posting it here. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
